RateHawk Reveals Top 5 Trending Destinations to Watch in 2026

 

January 13, 2026 – RateHawk, a B2B platform for booking hotels, flights and transfers, reports the top-5 trending destinations among travel professionals who booked trips for their clients in 2025. The overview spotlights a wide range of options, including the most booked champion, the fastest-growing destination, the most luxurious and the most budget-friendly choices, along with long stay escape. 

 

• Most booked champion — Italy

Italy was the most popular destination in 2025 among travel agents booking trips for their clients through RateHawk. The top cities were Rome, Milan, Florence, and Venice. Italy was also the host of RateHawk’s most luxurious booking of the year: a family of six spent over $311,000 for a 14-day stay at a five-star boutique hotel in Sardinia.

 

• Fastest-growing destination — Japan

Japan showed the most rapid growth among the top-30 popular destinations, with a 94% increase year on year (YoY) in hotel bookings made via RateHawk’s platform. This destination continues to hit records as one of the world’s hottest travel spots, exceeding 30 million arrivals by October 2025, according to Japan National Tourism Organization. Most popular cities include Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, however, travelers have already started exploring more remote and exotic options, like Okinawa and Hokkaido.

 

• Budget-friendly adventure — Bolivia

Bolivia was the most affordable destination of the year, with an average rate per night of $79. Travelers preferred to stay in La Paz, a vibrant high-altitude metropolis rich in Aymara culture, and Santa Cruz, a fast-growing economic center surrounded by jungle. Many visitors also chose to explore the unique Uyuni salt flats, making a memorable overnight stop there.

 

• Luxurious holidays — Egypt

Egypt stood out as the destination with the biggest share of bookings in premium five-star hotels, accounting for 60% of all stays. The most popular cities were Sharm el-Sheik, Hurghada, and Cairo. The country actively develops its infrastructure for luxury travel, with the recent opening of new Red Sea resorts and more adventurous experiences like Nile cruises.

 

• Long-stay escape — Aruba / Maldives

While the average stay in 2025 on a global scale was three nights, remote island destinations like Aruba or Maldives saw travelers staying twice as long, with an average of six nights. Both options are known for white sandy beaches and clear water. Visitors often come for a relaxing resort getaway and a range of water activities, including whale watching during the winter and spring.

 

“No matter the trip purpose, budget and length of stay, with the help of our booking platform, smart AI-powered search, and detailed content filters, travel professionals are able to help clients create truly memorable journeys. In 2025, we reached 2.9 million accommodation options on our platform. Looking ahead to 2026, we plan to keep expanding our inventory, with a special focus on securing direct supply in Southern Europe, the Middle East, APAC, and North America to offer the best possible deals to our partners and their travelers,” shared Astrid Kastberg, Managing Director of RateHawk.

 

RateHawk has been recently recognised as Europe’s Best B2B Travel Provider at the World Travel Tech Awards. RateHawk provides accommodations, flights, train tickets, transfers, car rentals, and more — all in a single, user-friendly system — to 110,000 travel partners across 120 countries.

 

About RateHawk

RateHawk is an innovative B2B travel booking platform developed by Emerging Travel Group. It offers hotels, flights, train tickets, transfers, car rentals, and more — all in a single, user-friendly system. With 24/7 support and powerful booking tools, RateHawk helps travel professionals build complete and competitive itineraries efficiently.

 

RateHawk partners have access to over 2.9 million properties from over 220,000 directly contracted hotels and 330 global suppliers, along with flights from 400+ airlines and transfers in more than 150 countries.